How did you enter this field?
I started to teach myself photography when I was 14. I had gone on a two or three-day school trip, and I saw the
beautiful mountains. I took a lot of pictures and they didn’t look like what I saw. My dad had a camera, so I start-
ed to use his camera to explore different views.
How did you feel about being a woman in this field?
It’s interesting because I don’t have a lot of coworkers. It’s great to be a woman doing anything. Because I am not
often around colleagues, I am not often comparing myself to them. But sometimes I do think about ways that can
influence my work. I love being a woman in this field; I love being a black women. I am also aware of the work I
have to do --or the work the world has to do--in regards to releasing some of these historical barriers and revalua-
tion of bodies.
Have you ever done any projects that are more about women?
I haven’t done a project just about women, but I just started to think about it recently. I have four sisters, and
we often think about ideas and different forms of women’s history and heritage. Often, even if the subject of an
artwork is not about women, it’s often centered in an approach that is grounded in the knowledge of women. Last
night, my sister, who’s making a film about black girls and women, asked me for photographs of black women.
This made me think more about doing projects on women and girls.
Did you encounter any limits or challeng-
es because of your gender?
We set the value of our work, and I see that’s worthy
of my work. For me, I hadn’t wanted to have a child.
It’s not a pressing issue for me. If I wanted to have a
child or two, I would know in my late 30s, and I am
31 right now. I have thought about what’s the most
important to me, and my work is more important to
me than having a child.
Along of the way pursuing your interests,
did you meet any voices against you?
No, I have never experienced that. My parents are
artists, so they are always supportive of my artwork.
They had wanted us to be savvy, but also, I guess I
don’t have to ask anyone for permission in this field.
I don’t have to go to law school or medical school; I
don’t have higher ups. So I depend on myself to make
decisions.
What do you hope to change for other women
in this field in the future?
I don’t work for publications or magazines, so I don’t
have colleagues to talk to. However, I do notice other
barriers in other parts in this field. Who’s working for
The New York Times, National Geographic? Who has
higher positions? There’re so many gaps in this field
in terms of gender. We should put our vision into the
world as something that’s valuable. As a photogra-
pher, you can share what you want others to see in the
world. We can shine the light on something that needs
awareness. What we see and experience needs aware-
ness. Whether we talk about women, women of color,
or trans-women, our experiences need to be seen,
understood, and acknowledged as being as powerful
as anything. As a woman in this field, I think I have a
part of this responsibility.
question that if we have a
“ The
child, we won’t do the things
we want to do is problem-
atic itself. We shouldn’t feel
forced to make a choice be-
tween these two things.